Rating: 
Summary: A charming little movie
Review: "Tumbleweeds" is about a mother and daughter who run away to sunny California. In California, they try to make a life for themselves with a few setbacks. While watching the movie, my girlfriend said that parts of the film reminds her of her and her daughter. Like I said, this is a charming little movie that is well worth the time to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: Let Tumbleweeds blow you away...
Review: Academy award nominee Janet McTeer plays a single mother named Mary Jo who has an eye for the men, resulting in several violent marriages and dirty boyfriends. Dragging her pre-adolescent and very realistic daughter Ava around from guy to guy, and state to state, she and her daughter finally decide on California. There, they decide to settle down with Mary Jo's new boyfriend. Mary Jo finds a job, Ava goes to school, and everything looks perfect...for a while. When Mary Jo discovers her boyfriend's true colors, she has to make an important decision... her daughter's desperate need for normal routine, or her own desire to blow with the wind. A delightful poingnant movie with funny and moving scenes. A great pick...
Rating: 
Summary: Quirky indie film only partly successful
Review: British actress Janet McTeer got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her work in Tumbleweeds. Writer/director Gavin O'Connor and young Kimberly Brown received nominations in several smaller competitions. I am quite a supporter of independent films, and I wish I liked Tumbleweeds more than I do. Aging Southern belle Mary Jo Walker [McTeer] is one of those people who prefer flight over fight. In the opening scene, she is having a bitter argument with her live-in boyfriend. In an adjoining room, her twelve-year old daughter, Ava [Kimberly Brown], is already packing her things. She knows what's coming. After the fight, we see the two driving down the road and discussing where to move to now. Mary Jo decides on Arizona, but Ava picks San Diego, based on picture in a magazine and on the fact that she's never seen the beach. Ava wins Mary Jo over, and along the way to California, we learn more about the characters. Mary Jo has married so many times that the actual number is never given. Every time she leaves a man, she moves on to someplace new. This seems an appropriate response to her, but as young as Ava is, she knows this pattern is neither normal nor healthy. She is sick of it. At the same time, mother and daughter love each other deeply and are quite attached. They are, for all intents and purposes, best friends. In San Diego, Mary Jo gets a decent job, and Ava enrolls in a wonderful school where she responds to the education program and starts to make friends. All is happiness until the inevitable happens. Mary Jo decides to move them in with a man. Just as often happens in real life, Mary Jo has a history of trading one rotten relationship for another. My theory on this phenomenon is that many people subconsciously look for the same personality traits over and over again, thus making each encounter a self fulfilling prophecy. So what bothered me about Tumbleweeds? It certainly wasn't the acting, which is uniformly excellent, or the direction, which is sure-handed. One problem lies in the story. The ideas, that you can't solve your problems by running away from them and that the needs of others are at least equal to your own, are fine. But the story is somehow not fleshed out. Some will find the ending satisfactory, but, to me, it's weak. The beach does serve as a symbol of running out of places to go, I suppose, yet the sudden 'roll credits' seems arbitrary. It's as though Gavin O'Connor were obsessed with making this an independent movie. Let me explain. There are certain visuals in low budget films which are the result of equipment limitations. You can't afford helicopters for panoramic shots or cameras mounted on one hundred foot tall cranes. You can't afford gliding tracking shots, which literally require tracks. I believe these limitations actually enhance creativity. O'Connor, however, seems intent on making a small picture using some sort of independent's rule book. These include long extreme close-ups of characters' faces, always using hand held cameras. The effect is to give the average viewer motion sickness. It also detracts from the dialog, which is a highlight of these kinds of movies. The women drive across America on back roads. This is certainly more scenic than using the interstate, but it also is an increasingly archaic technique. So, the director tries to crystallize what is an independent movie. Ironically, the great thing about small pictures is that there are virtually no rules, outside of what you can afford to do. Except perhaps to Mr. Gavin.
Rating:
Summary: They Ran Away From Everything Else ...
Review: Except From Each Other. This movie was a great movie to sit down and watch on a rainy day or on a sunny day at that. I never knew that this was a real movie up until it aired on digital cable. I loved this movie as I sat down and watched it. It was adorable and it was a great movie to either watch by yourself or with your mom and daughter setting. This movie showed the real effects of what goes on in a child's life who is going from place to place and never having a real home. 5 stars! If you loved Kimberly J. Brown in this movie, you will LOVE her in Halloweentown, Halloweentown 2, and Quints (All Disney Channel Original Movies!) I Sure Did!!
Rating:
Summary: They Ran Away From Everything Else ...
Review: Except From Each Other. This movie was a great movie to sit down and watch on a rainy day or on a sunny day at that. I never knew that this was a real movie up until it aired on digital cable. I loved this movie as I sat down and watched it. It was adorable and it was a great movie to either watch by yourself or with your mom and daughter setting. This movie showed the real effects of what goes on in a child's life who is going from place to place and never having a real home. 5 stars! If you loved Kimberly J. Brown in this movie, you will LOVE her in Halloweentown, Halloweentown 2, and Quints (All Disney Channel Original Movies!) I Sure Did!!
Rating:
Summary: fantastic
Review: great coming of age story acted by people who actually look and act realistically right down to the bruise on the mother's arm and the daughter putting her change in the bage with the magazine at the minimart. Acceptable viewing for young teens and eleven year olds with parent present, very little foul language, no nudity sparse violence.
Rating:
Summary: Sympathy for the truck driver??? From the uncompromising...
Review: I enjoyed this refreshing slice-of-life, but I feel the ending was rather truncated. Honestly, there were times I was infuriated with Janet McTeer's passive tolerance of her daughter's rude behavior. When her daughter cussed, she failed to correct her, and when she struggled for attention or misbehaved, the mother acted as a neutral passerby. I think the truck driver played by O' Connor had a point: she did need discipline. The triangle of daughter/mother/boyfriend was most interesting to me, made intriguing by the truck driver's attempts to bond with the daughter. Perhaps he got the better end of the outcome--dare I suggest it? The daughter was obviously used to getting all the attention, did not say thank you for any of the gifts he got her, and understandably his impatience built to a head, even though he was NOT violent with them. He attempted to be civil, but slowly lost his temper with each added insult. I believe he was the most realistic and fascinating character of all, and perhaps the most fully realized. The fact that he was dismissed rather abruptly at the end, making the viewer assume he's some kind of scumbag, was dishonest. I feel his reaction was rational, and somewhat justified. Janet McTeer's strong response to his outburst suggests that she believed he was like all the other jerks who treated her with disrespect, when he actually seemed to be trying. This video would have gotten five stars if it had included a resolution between the truck driver and Janet McTeer, or at least a description of his mindset when rejected.
The performances were uniformly excellent, and I especially enjoyed the spiky-haired kid (Adam) who was a real, sensitive youngster under the rebellious exterior, as most children are.
Rating:
Summary: Kimberly J. Brown rules!
Review: I First saw this movie onSTRZTH on Satilite and it made me think did it come out in Theathers before It poped out on Video and DVD?Does anyone know that answer?I thought It would soon hit Theathers just like out of my all Time favorite Movie Left Behnd which came to video first it hit Theathers n Feb 2,2001 but came out in Januray 2000!Now It was a great movie in which I bought the first day it came out!I bought this DVD today before making this Preview online review!Other formats include:VHS.If you love this movie you gotta seee The Craft,and HalloweenTown on Disney!
Rating:
Summary: Lively, lovely performances!
Review: I loved this story of a mother-daughter bond. Janet McTeer and Kimbely Brown are outstanding as a mother running from one bad relationship to another and her daughter who finally puts her foot down and insists on staying put in California. It's not a story we havn't seen before. (Anywhere But Here came out in the same year.) The strong bond the mother and daughter share is heartwarming and satisfying.
Rating: 
Summary: Annoyingly Cute.
Review: I missed this movie when it first came out. Someone recommended it to me. Sounded interesting. But I found it incredibly annoying. The child actress who is in every scene was annoyingly cute, much like the whole movie. Take a look if it's shown on T.V. but don't bother buying it.
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